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Nursing

Abstract

Nurse practitioners are the largest group of advanced practice nurses. They deliver quality, cost effective care in a variety of healthcare settings. In order to effectively recruit and retain these providers, employers must appreciate what satisfies and dissatisfies nurse practitioners in their work environment and work experience. Few research studies evaluate the job satisfaction of nurse practitioners. Due to the varying practice parameters from state to state, the research that has been done may not be generalizable to nurse practitioners in Missouri. This replication study evaluated the level of overall job satisfaction, the impact of intrinsic and extrinsic factors, and the effect of experience and length of practice on the job satisfaction of nurse practitioners in Missouri. The Misener Nurse Practitioner Job Satisfaction Scale was mailed, along with a demographic questionnaire, to a randomly selected sample of 250 practicing FNPs who resided in Missouri. The useable response rate was 44 percent. The results showed nurse practitioners in Missouri to be minimally satisfied to satisfied with their jobs overall. They were more satisfied with the intrinsic factors of their jobs and less satisfied with the extrinsic factors, in keeping with Herzberg's dual factor theory of job satisfaction. Though experience is inversely related to job satisfaction, length of time at the current practice site did not significantly effect the job satisfaction of the sample. Further research is needed to evaluate the significance of practice location and prescriptive authority on job satisfaction.